The Fig Tree @ 36 — Restaurant in Plymouth

Booked for our anniversary meal and lots of talk about coming to this place among friends that haven't yet tried FT out.

Well sadly the advice would be not to.. and such a shame. It's worth highlighting the customer service was outstanding, our main server was lovely. The only reason I've given 2 stars instead of 1.

I didn't want to be one of those customers that complained about everything because from earshot a few tables down you could hear others complaining about quality of food and temperature of meals being served. I wanted so hard to enjoy our evening and not to feel uncomfortable about complaining.

Firstly the tables and where we were placed. Sticky and disgusting. They look like they have been over used and badly damaged. After expressing our concerns to our server they had explained it was due to the chemicals being used had damaged the surfaces. And although they provided a paper napkin to rest on, a simple table cloth would of easily solved the issue.

We had the sheer joy of being sat directly opposite the toilet door and the outside door leading to their rear seating area maybe approx 2ft away from our table. Constantly in use, uncomfortably trying to enjoy our meals whilst queues would wait at times next to our table and becoming cold.

If I'm to provide any useful feedback, it would be to get rid of your hallway seating area, terribly lit with harsh white lighting, cold and its used for access for servers to the kitchen and your guest for the toilet. It's just not suitable.

I enjoyed my meal, being hot and tasty however my partner did comment that his main was bland. Overall pricing is high for the lack of quality/portioning and you'd expect more 2.5 courses, 3 alcoholic drinks and a bottle of water for £100!

The experience has tainted our celebration and that makes me said given the excitement we had to come here. Perhaps it will improve who knows, but there are some changes that need to...

I dined for my 50th Birthday, I am a vegan and my parents are carnivores. There were 2 options on the menu for the main course and starter. I chose the hummus and toast for starter, which was basic, and celeriac risotto for my main. There were no rice grains in sight, just minute cubes of celeriac in what looked and tasted like dishwater with a light dusting of toasted flaked almonds and seeds. I could not eat the meal and the waitress asked if everything was OK and I stated it was bland, with a weird acidic gloopy sauce and inedible, she asked if I wanted anything else and I retorted what else can I have, is there anything else for me. To which she shrugged her shoulders and walked off. I ate half a folk full of food and nothing was mentioned when the plate was collected. Meanwhile, my mum had the belly pork, with a rosti which was so hard and dry it could be used as a deadly weapon. When asked the waiter if it was meant to be like this, he went to speak to the Chef and came back to the table and stated yes, then walked away. The service and food was hugely disappointing and I would not return. What a waste of 2hrs for 2 courses and sub par experience. I expected more!!!

Thank you for you response, not the response I was expecting. I have worked in hospitality since I was 10 as my mother was a hotelier, and have been a vegan since I was 15. The front of house experience was completely accurate. The staff clearly cannot handle objections to the food which is a reflection on you as a chef and their training. Not even a discount, you would rather let an unhappy customer leave hungry and forced to write a bad review. Thank you...

me and my family went to this restaurant for some food and we were very uncomfortable and felt unsafe after the experience we had here, when we got into the restaurant we were informed that there was no menu and that the dining concept was “trust the chef.” This was not explained to us clearly until after we were seated. When we asked for clarification, the waiter told us we could choose between a vegetarian, meat, or fish option but you were not told what the dishes were and it was just whatever the chef wanted to make, they also give you no prices and they don’t tell you the price for anything. While we understand the creative intention behind this approach, it’s not ideal for guests with specific dietary needs or preferences. I mentioned that I am a selective eater and only eat chicken the waiter kindly offered to have the chef prepare a chicken risotto using diced chicken from their home, which we appreciated in terms of effort but I don’t like risotto but I wasn’t given the opportunity to agree to the dish or suggest alternatives it was simply decided for me. Shortly after, we were served homemade bread, which had hair in it, when we brought this to the waiter’s attention, he apologised sincerely and offered a replacement. However, by that point, we had already decided that the “trust the chef” experience wasn’t suitable for us and politely said we would leave and pay for what we had. At that moment, the chef began shouting, swearing and throwing objects in the kitchen, which made us feel unsafe and uncomfortable and we felt it was best to exit the restaurant...